As a conventional art of this invention, a swinging apparatus of a folding knife shown in FIG. 8 is employed.
The conventional folding knife P, as shown in FIG. 8, comprises a holding handle 1 and a blade 2 swingably engaged with the handle 1 through a pin 31. And, the holding handle 1 is provided with an end tongue 12 fixed to an end portion thereof by means of pins 121, 121 and with a locking bar (which constitutes the back of the holding handle 1) 13 swingably engaged with the end portion by means of a pin 131. The locking bar 13 is resiliently energized counterclockwise by a spring member 14 integrally formed therewith and is retained at its front retaining lug portion 132 in a retaining recess portion 29 of the blade 2.
When the folding knife P of the above-mentioned constitution is folded into the holding handle 1, a rear end portion 133 of the locking bar 13 is urged against the spring member 14 in order to release the retaining lug portion 132 of the locking bar 13 from the retaining recess portion 29 of the blade 2, and then the blade 2 is swung counterclockwise about the pin 31 in order to fold the blade 2 into the holding handle 1.
However, the conventional folding knife had the following inconveniences.
(1) As a considerable distance is present between the pin 31 of the blade 2 and the pin 131 of the locking bar 13, the respective component parts is difficult to be assembled accurately. Therefore, when the blade 2 is fixed by means of the locking bar 13, the blade 2 is easily loosened.
(2) As the rear end portion 133 of the locking bar 13 is located at the rear end portion of the holding handle 1, the operator of the knife must move his hand from the position where he uses the knife P to the rear end portion of the holding handle 1 when he is going to fold the blade 2. Therefore, he finds it very difficult to perform the folding work of the blade 2.
Furthermore, the knife P is a tool which is intended to be used by one hand. However, when the blade 2 is to be folded, the operator is required to handle the locking bar 13 with his one hand and fold the blade 2 with his other hand. That is, he must use his both hands. Therefore, the folding work of the blade 2 is very difficult for him. Particularly, this inconvenience is significant when he uses his one hand for some other purposes such as holding something else.
(3) As the members for restricting the swinging of the blade 2 such as the locking bar 13, the retaining recess portion 29 of the blade 2 and the end tongue 12 are exposed on the outer surface of the knife P, the outer appearance of the knife P depends on the configurations of these members 13, 29 and 12. As a result, every time the design of the knife P is changed, the designs of these members 13, 29 and 12 are also required to be changed.
(4) As the conventional knife P has the retaining recess portion 29 at the root portion of the blade 2, and angular edge portion 291 of the retaining recess portion 29 is projected out of the body panel portions 11, 11 of the holding handle 1. Therefore, this angular edge portion 291 is very easy to hurt something therearound.
In view of the foregoing, it can be contemplated that the body panel portion 11 of the holding handle 1 is extended 111. However, a provision of the extended portion 111 not only easily spoils the balance of the outer appearance of the knife P but also takes much time and labor for machining the holding handle portion 1. In addition, if the extended portion 111 is provided, it can be an obstacle for the hand for holding the knife P. Therefore, the area of the holding handle 1 which can be held by hand becomes substantially short, thus making it difficult to hold the holding handle 1. In this case, it can be contemplated to make the holding handle 1 long in order to make it easy to hold the holding handle 1 by hand. However, if so, the distance from the holding handle 1 to the blade 2 is increased. As a result, the handling of the knife P becomes difficult.
(5) As the members for swinging the blade 2, that is, the locking bar 13, the retaining recess portion 29 of the blade 2 and the end tongue 12 are exposed on the outer surface of the knife P, foreign matters are easily attached to these members. Also, the mechanical portion (of the swinging mechanism) invites shortage of lubricating oil agent. As a result, a smooth swinging movement of the blade 2 is difficult to maintain. Moreover, the fancy appearance of the knife P is degraded.
(6) When folding, if the rear end portion of the locking bar 13 is pressurized to unlock the blade, the blade 2 is brought into a state where no braking is acted thereon any more. Therefore, the blade 2 is tended to rotate excessively to hurt the fingers holding the holding handle 1. Therefore, the operator is required to pay a special attention for handling.
(7) As the blade 2 and the locking bar 13 are attached solely by means of the pins 31 and 131 and these members 2 and 13 are required to be swung, the pins 31 and 131 are not allowed to be tightened sufficiently. Therefore, a sufficient mechanical strength is difficult to obtain. Because of the foregoing reasons, the pin 31 is sometimes broken when an excessive load is incurred to the blade 2.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a lock type swinging apparatus for a pair of swinging members in order to eliminate the following inconveniences.
(1) When one swinging member (a blade or a holding handle) and the other swinging member (a holding handle or a blade) are assembled together, these members are hardly loosened;
(2) The folding work of one swinging member (blade) is easy to perform;
(3) The design of the entire (knife) can be changed without changing the designs of parts for regulating the swinging movement;
(4) The swinging apparatus can be applied to various products without applying a special treatment to a pair of swinging members;
(5) The parts for regulating the swinging movement of a pair of swinging members are hardly attached with foreign matters and a shortage of lubricating oil is hardly invited;
(6) An adequate braking force is normally applied when the swinging members are pivoted; and
(7) A sufficient strength is assured to the swinging mechanism of a pair of swinging members.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a folding knife in which the above-mentioned pair of lock type swinging apparatuses are applied.